Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Action Figure Review: Marine from Quake 2 by Resaurus

Someday, collectors will have to debate the merits of the various
action figure time periods. In my opinion, one of the greatest times to
be a collector of action figures was during the late 90's through the
early 2000s. It was during that period shortly after the birth of
McFarlane Toys and the relaunch of Kenner's Star Wars line that every
company was trying to one-up everyone else. Whether it was better paint
and sculpt, more unique accessories, cooler packaging, or more obscure
licenses, the years from 1997 to around 2002 or 2003 were truly a period
when the action figure industry seemed to be at the top of its game in
order to offer the highest quality product to consumers. While
companies like Hasbro, McFarlane, Mattel, and others were all present,
this was truly a period that belonged to smaller companies like Mezco,
Sideshow, Palisades, Plan B, and the company whose product we're looking
at today, Resaurus. The first Resaurus figure I ever remember owning
was their version of Duke Nukem, a figure that still stands proudly on
my shelf. Part of Resaurus' claim to fame was the excellent work they
did on video game licenses (they were certainly one of the first
companies to seriously tackle video game licenses) and one of the lines
that sadly only lasted for one series was Quake 2. Today I'm looking at
the Marine from Quake 2, released in 1999. Join me after the loading
screen.....
While the trend these days seems for action figures to be getting
smaller (so many lines have shrunk down into the 1/18th scale), during
the mid 90s the trend was to continually make action figures larger.
The Marine is a tall (almost 6 3/4 inches), bulky figure that wouldn't
feel out of place alongside NECA's Gears of War figures. Since he was
based off of a video game, and an older game at that, the style is quite
"animated" and there was a lot of translation that had to be
done transitioning the figure from the game to a 3-D plastic
representation.

The biggest indicator that tells us this figure was released in the
pre-Marvel Legends era is the articulation that consists entirely of
cut joints. The Marine features hinged knees, swivel hips, a swivel
waist, swivel shoulders, bicep swivels, wrist swivels, and a swivel
neck. While the prevalence of all swivel joints and no ball joints
would seem poor by today's standards, back in the late 90's this wasn't
as big of a deal, and I imagine most collectors would be pretty happy
with the Marine's articulation. While he has the bicep swivels, his
elbows are sculpted in "bent" positions, meaning that the swivels do
change the pose quite drastically. With his swivel wrists, he can hold
the included weapons a few different ways, always a nice feature.

Despite being an older figure, the sculpt is still really, really
detailed and would have been even more impressive at the time of its
release. Decked out in a body suit and covered with various pieces of
armor, the Marine is covered with a wealth of details. From the treads
on the bottom of his boots to the textured grip on the palms of his
gloves, Resaurus didn't leave any of this figure barren. The armored
bits certainly tell a story, as numerous bullet holes, scuffs, and
slices can be seen in the armor. Even the Marine has taken some damage,
as his sleeves are completely ripped off and his left arm has been
hastily bandaged. The armor seems to be pretty functional and made for
combat, as the gloves have armored plating on the outside, the thigh
pieces look to have some type of piston system, perhaps to aid in
movement, and the back of the figure features an elaborate electronics
system (perhaps this is a shield unit of some kind?) and what appears to
be an oxygen tank. While he's armed with a wealth of weapons (keep
reading) the Marine does have a bandolier of three grenades strapped to
his right arm. The head sculpt is probably the most dated piece of the
sculpt. It's certainly not bad, but it definitely has the extreme style
of something from the 90's. The Marine's steely grimace is pretty
effective, though.

The paintwork, however, is completely beyond reproach. Every
detail is neat and crisp with clean lines and multiple weathering
techniques. Even little wires on the armor are painted different
colors. Look at the bullet holes in the armor--I'm not sure if that's
supposed to be the remnants of the bullet inside the hole or the damaged
armor underneath, but it still is a cool, effective paint app. It
really is an amazing figure and while the skin is one flat tone, the
rest of the figure utilizes a whole pallet to bring this war-torn
warrior to life.

In a figure with lots of strong points, the accessories still stand
out. I remember an article from ToyFare magazine sometime during the
summer of 1999 where ToyFare got a group of toy industry folks together
to review the Star Wars: Episode 1 action figures. When it came time to
review the Anakin Skywalker figure, the guy from Resaurus commented
something like, "Resaurus makes accessories larger than this figure."
That dude was correct. Opening this figure, I was just amazed at the
size and weight of this figure's accessories. Each piece probably has
more unique paint applications on it than the average action figure you
could buy at a mass market retailer these days. The marine comes with a
rocket launcher with a separate rocket rack, a large machine gun, and a
cybernetically enhanced shark. The rocket launcher is easily as long
as a modern G.I.Joe figure is tall, and the whole thing is solid and
bulky. It features a really nice paint job that makes it look metallic
with several different paint apps, including some excellent dry brushing
techniques. The sculpt is also excellent, with everything from
individual wires, various knobs and panels, and even steel plating. The
barrel is hollow and gives the impression that a rocket could really
fire from this thing. The rocket rack is a separate piece that plugs
into the top of the launcher and holds five red-tipped rockets (they're
not removable). The machine gun (I think it's called a hyper blaster)
features the same great paint scheme and sculpting as the rocket
launcher. The four barrels are all hollow, and are covered with dents
and weathering.

Last, but certainly not least, is the cybernetic shark. A result of the
Strogg taking animals and manipulating them, the shark looks like your
average small shark, but he's covered with additional spiked fins, barbs
on his tail, and a metal endoskeleton that is often popping through his
flesh. While he is made of a bendable material (only his tail can be
posed, though) the sculpt is sharp and detailed. Small details like
wounds, gills, and the rows of sharp teeth are all very crisp. The
paint job is also excellent. Just look at the picture! This guy has as
impressive of a sculpt and paint job as many figures released today.
Resaurus definitely delivered on the accessories here.

This was very much an impulse buy at a comic store in Asheville,
NC (Pastimes), and I paid less than $4 dollars for it. Knowing what I
know now, had this figure been on a shelf for $15, I still would have
picked it up. While in so many ways action figures have gotten more
impressive in the 14 years since this figure was released, there have
been ways in which they've gone backwards, too. In trying to judge this
figure today, I'd still give it a great. Despite the reduced
articulation, everything else about it is incredibly impressive and
designed to be both fun and a nice display piece. Since we're in
the Action Figure Time Machine, though, my final judgment is basing this
off of other figures from 1999. If so, this figure would easily be
Confirmed: Epic. If you're interested in older action figures or video
game pieces, snag this guy online or at a toy show for a few bucks. He's
definitely worth it. And he comes with a cybernetically enhanced shark.
Word.